Department for Communities and Local Government

Non-domestic Rates

baroness mcintosh of pickering: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the recent business rates revaluation, what are the average changes affecting (1) rural businesses, and (2) urban businesses.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: Revaluation will mean that nearly three quarters of business will see their bills stay the same or fall, and from April 2017, 600,000 small businesses will pay no business rates at all. The Government introduced a £3.6 billion package of transitional relief to support businesses affected by revaluation. To support businesses in rural areas, the Government is doubling rural rate relief from 50 per cent to 100 per cent from 1st April 2017. The Department does not hold information on whether a particular business is rural or urban.

Non-domestic Rates

baroness mcintosh of pickering: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on rural businesses that are operating at narrow margins of the impact of increases in rateable values.

baroness mcintosh of pickering: To ask Her Majesty’s Government over how long a period the recent rateable revaluation in respect of business rates was estimated.

baroness mcintosh of pickering: To ask Her Majesty’s Government during the recent business rates revaluation, what regard was given to the impact on the turnover and profitability of businesses of seasonality in produce such as livestock, and of currency movements.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: Business rates are based on valuations from the Valuation Office Agency and we do not intervene in their independent assessments. Rateable values are assessed to consistent standards and generally reflect the open market rental value of the property. And it is for the Valuation Office Agency to decide how to apply these standards to the circumstances of each property. A £3.6 billion transitional relief scheme will provide support for the minority who do face an increase.

Non-domestic Rates: Greater London

lord berkeley of knighton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to protect small businesses in London from closure owing to the rise in business rates.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: Business rates are based on valuations from the Valuation Office Agency and we do not intervene in their independent assessments. A £3.6 billion transitional relief scheme will provide support for the minority who do face an increase. London will benefit more than anywhere else in the country from the transitional relief scheme. In total properties in London will benefit from transitional relief worth over £1 billion over the life of the scheme.From 1 April, we are permanently doubling the level of Small Business Rate Relief and increasing the thresholds to benefit a greater number of property occupiers. Eligible properties with a rateable value of £12,000 and below will receive 100 per cent relief. This means that 600,000 small businesses will pay no business rates at all.

Religious Hatred: Christianity

baroness berridge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for a Christian hate crimes unit, additional to the Jewish and Muslim hate crimes units in the Department for Communities and Local Government.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: The Government set out its commitment to reduce the harm caused by all hate crime, including that which is religiously motivated, in ‘Action against hate: the UK government’s plan for tackling hate crime’ which was published in July 2016.The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) does not have specific units for antisemitic or anti–Muslim hate crime. Rather, we support Working Groups to bring members of those communities, where religiously motivated hate crime is at the highest levels, together with Government and other agencies to discuss what more we can do to tackle anti - Semitism and anti-Muslim hate crime. DCLG also supports the cross-Government Hate Crime Programme, which coordinates the response to all forms of hate crime across Whitehall and the Criminal Justice Agencies.DCLG supports the police website ‘True Vision’ and, in January 2017, the Communities Secretary announced £25,000 extra funding for True Vision to work with Christian Groups, including Churchwatch. The project will assess the nature and extent of anti-Christian hate crime, reassure affected Christians and raise awareness of reporting mechanisms for hate crime. The findings of the research will help inform our future activity to challenge hate crime, which is unacceptable in any community.

World War II: Genocide

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of correspondence from Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth to Lord Hylton concerning a grant towards the National Holocaust Memorial, what is the estimated cost to (1) build, and (2) annually maintain, the National Holocaust Memorial; of those sums, how much will be provided from (a) government department direct grants, (b) other sources of public funding, and (c) private funds; and whether they will make a statement to Parliament on the costs and funding.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: The Government has committed £50 million towards establishing a new National Holocaust Memorial, learning centre and endowment fund; with an expectation of a further £50 million being raised in donations. The estimated cost of constructing the memorial and learning centre is up to £40 million. Further consideration of the costs associated with the memorial and learning centre will continue over the coming months

Social Rented Housing: Construction

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the publication of the White Paper Fixing our broken housing market, whether they will allow local authorities to build council housing or work with partners to provide other forms of social housing, rather than make provision for starter homes, if that is the demonstrable local need.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: As our Housing White Paper made clear, we want local authorities to deliver starter homes as part of a mixed package of affordable housing that can respond to local needs and local markets. In keeping with this approach to deliver a range of affordable homes, rather than a mandatory requirement for starter homes, we intend to amend the National Planning Policy Framework to introduce a clear policy expectation that housing sites deliver a minimum of 10 per cent affordable home ownership units. It will be for local areas to work with developers to agree an appropriate level of delivery of starter homes, alongside other affordable home ownership and rented tenures.

Social Rented Housing: Construction

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the publication of the White Paper Fixing our broken housing market, what specific steps they will take to help councils build more social housing.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: We are sympathetic to the challenges faced by local authorities, and the Housing White Paper reflects our ambition to support them in building more affordable homes.My officials will work with local authorities to understand all the options for increasing the supply of affordable housing, considering innovative ideas and bespoke deals with local authorities to support delivery.

Housing: Carbon Emissions

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the publication of the White Paper Fixing our broken housing market, what plans they have to ensure that boosting productivity and innovation in methods of construction will lead to more zero carbon homes.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: The Housing White Paper - Fixing our broken housing market - sets out the steps we are taking to stimulate the growth of modern methods of construction. The use of modern methods of construction, including off-site construction techniques, has the potential to speed up the supply of high-quality, high-performance homes. Building homes under factory conditions improves consistency and predictability in housing design and manufacture, and can lead to higher energy efficiency, saving consumers money on energy bills.

Housing: Construction

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the publication of the White Paper Fixing our broken housing market, what is their estimate of the level of disruption and delay caused to house building by the failure to secure timely utility connections.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: Timely utility connections are key in ensuring that the homes this country needs are built. A range of factors may cause delays to build out of housing developments, such as discharging planning conditions and obligations, dealing with issues around protected species, or shortages in construction skills. Some builders cite the complex process and time it can take to make utility connections as one of the more significant delays in providing new homes, and have estimated it can in some cases add a three to six month delay after construction has started.This is why we have committed in the White Paper to review what more we could do to ensure that utilities planning and delivery keeps pace with house building and supports developments across the country.

Housing

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the publication of the White Paper Fixing our broken housing market, what additional "transparent data" they expect to be able to collect, and what barriers there have been to the collection of data to date.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: The White Paper includes proposed measures to improve data transparency in respect of: a) the pace of housing delivery; and b) the ownership of land.The Government wants to ensure that new homes are built out as quickly as possible once planning permission is granted. There is currently no requirement for developers to report on the build out of new homes, and the information which the Government collects is limited. The White Paper proposes to introduce new requirements for developers to provide information about housing delivery – both at the planning application stage and after permission is granted. It also proposes that this information should be published as part of Authority Monitoring reports. These requirements are intended to improve the quantity, quality and consistency of information about build out rates. The responses to the White Paper consultation will inform further development of these proposals.It can be difficult to establish the identity of all persons with an interest in land. As the White Paper makes clear, the Government would like to make data about land ownership, control and interests more readily available. To this end we are aiming to complete the Land Register by 2030, with all public-held land to be registered by 2025. We will also be consulting on options to improve the data held on those who have an interest in land.

Housing

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the publication of the White Paper Fixing our broken housing market, what are the "sharper tools" they hope to deploy in the attempt to drive up the delivery of new homes.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: The Government wants to ensure that new homes are built out as quickly as possible once planning permission is granted. The Housing White Paper seeks views on a range of new and improved tools to help local authorities to hold developers to account for delivery. The proposed tools include greater scrutiny of a site’s delivery prospects where earlier permissions have not been implemented; shorter timescales for implementing permissions; more streamlined completion notice procedures and new guidance encouraging more active use of compulsory purchase powers at stalled housing sites.To support the use of these tools, the White Paper also proposes new requirements for developers to provide information about housing delivery – both at the planning application stage and after permission is granted. These requirements are intended to improve the quantity, quality and consistency of information about build out rates that local authorities have at their disposal.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Balkans: Conflict, Stability and Security Fund

baroness helic: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what projects have been funded in the Balkans through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund over the last 24 months; what is the breakdown of the funding for each of the countries for which the funding was made available; and what assessment they have made of the impact of the funding provided.

baroness anelay of st johns: Details of CSSF funded projects by country for FY 15/16 and 16/17 are shown below. Illustrative outcomes achieved so far include: A reduction in the impact of fiscal crime and improvements in regional law enforcement cooperation, improvement of legislation to ensure fair treatment for the survivors of wartime sexual violence, and improvements in transparency and professionalism in the public sector to help tackle corruption and patronage.Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH)Peacekeeping/Conflict Deterrence: Support to European Union Force Althea (EUFOR) in BiHSecurity Sector Reform: Capacity building support to BiH's Armed Forces to meet NATO-required standards; improve coordination of law enforcement agenciesReconciliation: Support to improve access to justice, non-discrimination and equality for survivors of wartime Sexual and Gender Based VictimsGovernance: Support to the EU Special Representative's Office; capacity building to support socio-economic reform and development of economic and employment opportunities; promote anti-corruption measures to improve transparency and effective public financial management; support political reform; build future leader network; promote good governanceRule of Law: Capacity building to improve governance, transparency and judicial reform; support for criminal justice reform.FY15/16 Funding: £2,505,174 FY16/17 Funding: £8,421,421KosovoPeacekeeping/Conflict Deterrence: Support to NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR)Security Sector Reform: Capacity building support to defence ministries to meet NATO-required standardsReconciliation: Supporting cross-border dialogue, economic cooperation and normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia; promote social cohesion, political and ethnic reconciliation; support return and reintegration of minority communities and their rights; support to victims of sexual violence during conflictGovernance: Support to EU Special Representative's Office; capacity building to promote economic development; build future leader network ; strengthen political accountability, democratic institutions, media freedom; promote civic activismRule of Law: Support to EU Rule of Law Mission (EULEX); enhance capacity and transparency of legal and judicial system; support to combat illegal migration; introduce anti-corruption measuresFY15/16 Funding: £3,616,953 FY16/17 Funding: £2,883,034MacedoniaSecurity Sector Reform: Capacity building support to Macedonia's Armed Forces to meet NATO-required standards; promote intelligence reformReconciliation: Support and promote inter-ethnic community relations and activityGovernance: Enhance media and civil society freedom; improve transparency and effective public financial management; strengthen democratic accountability and civic engagement; support socio-economic developmentRule of Law: Promote judicial reform; enhance civil society monitoring and engagement on state oversight and regulatory bodies; strengthen rule of law policiesFY15/16 Funding: £835,121 FY16/17 Funding: £1,162,345SerbiaSecurity Sector Reform: Capacity building support to Serbia's Armed ForcesRule of law: Capacity building support to Serbia's response to the migration crisis, and combating illegal migrationGovernance: Promote good governance and accountability; promote economic development and improvement to business environment; promote public administration reformReconciliation: Strengthening ability of the state to handle legacy issuesFY 15/16 Funding: £615,995 FY16/17 Funding: £4,441,000Cross RegionCountering organised crime, fiscal crime, CT/extremism and illegal migration: Technical assistance, strengthening expertise, and equipment provision to law enforcement agencies; understanding threat posed by violent extremism and radicalisationFY15/16 Funding: £599,588 FY16/17 Funding: £2,214,106

Israel: Palestinians

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel regarding reports of toxic waste, effluent and pollution released from Israeli industry and settlements in the West Bank onto Palestinian land and into the water supply.

baroness anelay of st johns: While we have not raised this issue with the Israeli authorities, the UK Government has made clear to the Government of Israel of our concerns about the humanitarian and environmental impact of the damage to water sources and the destruction of Palestinian agricultural land that has been caused by settlement-related building activity. We deplore the destruction of Palestinian property and have called on the Israeli Government to cease such activity.We have also urged the Israeli Government to avoid actions that restrict Palestinian access to water for irrigation and drinking. With Department for International Development support, UNICEF works with the Palestinian Water Authority to help monitor the water situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and ensure effective response in case of an emergency.

Israeli Settlements

lord warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they will take with their international partners in respect of the government of Israel's decision to retrospectively legalise the previously illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories of the West Bank.

baroness anelay of st johns: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), issued a statement on 7 February condemning the passing of the Land Regularisation Bill and expressing concern that the bill paves the way for significant growth in settlements deep in the West Bank, threatening the viability of the two-state solution. The UK also welcomes the recent statement by Federica Mogherini, Vice-President of the European Commission, condemning the adoption of the bill.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Immigration: EU Nationals

lord kinnock: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Prime Minister's Lancaster House speech on 17 January, in which areas of the UK has net EU migration "put pressure on public services, like schools, and stretched infrastructure, especially housing".

lord bridges of headley: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published a report based on 2011 census data, on the changing levels of the non-UK born population in every local area, available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/articles/internationalmigrantsinenglandandwales/2012-12-11#tab-Local-geography-of-non-UK-born-and-non-UK-nationals)The Home Office also published a research report ‘The Social and Public Service Impacts of International Migration at the Local Level’ (July 2013) which shows the local authorities that have been particularly affected by international migration, including migration from the European Union Member States. This is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/210324/horr72.pdf



International Migrants in England and Wales: 2011
(PDF Document, 679.34 KB)




 International Migration at the Local Level 
(PDF Document, 2.22 MB)

EU Law

lord lester of herne hill: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks in the White Paper The United Kingdom's exit from and new partnership with the European Union, how the Great Repeal Bill will ensure that legislatures and Courts in the UK will be the final decision-makers in respect of UK cases.

lord bridges of headley: The Government will bring forward legislation in the next session that, when enacted, will repeal the European Communities Act 1972 and ensure a functioning statute book on the day we leave the EU. This ‘Great Repeal Bill’ will end the authority of EU law and return power to the UK.The Prime Minister has been clear that we will take back control of our laws and bring an end to the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the UK.O​ur laws will be made in Westminster, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast and those laws will be interpreted by judges not in Luxembourg but in courts across this country.

Department for Education

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

lord northbourne: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the recently published Ofsted inspection framework does not make any reference to the role of parents and families in developing the personal, social and health education of children and in preparing those children for carrying out a role as parents in the future.

lord nash: The purpose of Ofsted school inspection is to assess the quality of education provided by the school for its pupils. This includes reporting on how well the school’s provision supports pupils’ personal development, behaviour and welfare, and their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. In addition, Ofsted’s school inspection handbook does require inspectors to consider how well leaders and governors engage with parents, carers and others in supporting pupils.

Schools: Textbooks

lord hunt of chesterton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will take steps to ensure that maintained schools have adequate resources to continue to make text books available to pupils as a central part of their education.

lord hunt of chesterton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what comparisons they have made regarding the purchase and use of books in maintained schools in different parts of the UK.

lord nash: We want schools to have the resources they need, and through our careful management of the economy we have been able to protect the core schools budget in real terms. That means that in 2016-17 schools have more funding than ever before for children’s education, totalling over £40 billion. We will continue to provide advice and support to help schools use their funding in cost effective ways, and improve the way they buy goods and services, so‎ they get the best possible value for their pupils. Individual schools are best placed to determine which appropriate teaching resources they fund from within their budgets. We believe, however, that high quality textbooks can make a real difference to teaching. We have worked with publishers with the aim of improving the quality of textbooks available to schools, to better support excellent teaching and teacher professional development. We do not however collect detailed information on the purchase and use of books in different parts of the UK.

Ministry of Justice

European Convention on Human Rights

lord lester of herne hill: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to continue to honour the UK's commitments under the European Convention on Human Rights and to give effect to internationally binding judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in UK cases.

lord keen of elie: The Government has no plans to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights. As a nation we continue to comply with our international human rights obligations.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Ivory: Sales

baroness jones of whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are considering a total ban on ivory sales in the light of the announcement by the government of China that they intend to introduce a full ban within 12 months.

lord gardiner of kimble: We were pleased to hear of China’s announcement that it will end its domestic commercial ivory trade in 2017. We look forward to seeing further detail on China’s measures, including understanding the nature of provisions for auctioning certified ivory ‘relics’ and how China plans to implement the new measures.   We are committed to bringing an end to elephant poaching and in September 2016, the Secretary of State for Environment announced proposals for a ban on trade in worked ivory from the last 70 years, which would make UK rules on ivory amongst the toughest in the world. We will shortly be consulting on these plans. At the same time we will be calling for evidence on what more we can do to tackle this issue, including how we best enforce this ban.   We are doing more than ever to tackle the illegal wildlife trade, including investing £26 million to help bring an end to this cruel trade.

Home Office

Asylum: North Korea

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any children born to one North Korean parent in China, who have not acquired citizenship of either the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea, or the People’s Republic of China, have claimed asylum in the United Kingdom; and if so, whether they have been granted refugee status.

baroness williams of trafford: Information on claims and decisions is published as part of the Government’s Immigration Statistics quarterly release.The relevant data tables can be found in tabs AS_01 and AS_01_q at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/572374/asylum1-q3-2016-tables.odsThe tables are also attached to this answer.



Data Tables
(Excel SpreadSheet, 3.06 MB)

Asylum: North Korea

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many individuals born in North Korea who have sought asylum in the United Kingdom have been deported since the United Kingdom–Republic of Korea Readmission Agreement came into force.

baroness williams of trafford: Information on removals is published as part of the Government’s Immigration Statistics quarterly release.These can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/572383/returns5-q3-2016-tables.odsThe table is also attached to this answer.   



Asylum Data Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 3.49 MB)

Homosexuality

lord cashman: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks of Baroness Williams of Trafford on 12 December 2016 (HL Deb, col 1021), what progress they have made in giving consideration to including additional offences in Chapter 4 of Part 5 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 and which specific offences they have identified as appropriate for inclusion.

baroness williams of trafford: The provisions enabling the Secretary of State to extend, by regulations, the list of offences eligible for a disregard under the provisions of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, will come into force two months after the Policing and Crime Bill received Royal Assent. This happened on 31 January 2017. The Government will work with stakeholders to identify what offences might be appropriately added to that list.

Peers: Correspondence

lord lamont of lerwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the Home Secretary intends to reply to Lord Lamont's letter of 16 November 2016 about Mr Amini and his request for a visa to come to the UK.

baroness williams of trafford: I am sorry for the delay in responding to your correspondence of 16 November 2016 to the Home Secretary. This was passed to me for response and a reply was sent on 10 February 2017.

Firearms and Unmanned Air Vehicles

lord tebbit: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of whether the differences in the legal constraints placed upon ownership and use of (1) shotguns, and (2) drones available to the public, are proportional to the risks posed to the public and property by each of those devices.

baroness williams of trafford: The shotgun licensing process is governed by the Firearms Act 1968. Under section 28 of the Firearms Act, the chief officer of police will only grant a shotgun certificate to individuals who, after investigation, are deemed not to pose a threat to public safety or to the peace. Extensive checks are carried out on every applicant for a shotgun certificate, and are taken into account by the chief officer in their assessment of suitability. In respect of drones available to the public, it is vital that drones are operated safely and responsibly, and the use of drones for criminal purposes is something Government takes very seriously. The Government is currently consulting on the future safe use of drones, including proposals such as registration and making drones electronically identifiable and strengthening penalties for breaking the law. The consultation can be found on gov.uk and closes on 15 March 2017.

Madeleine McCann

lord black of brentwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the total cost to date of Operation Grange, the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, and whether any resources have been allocated to it for the financial year 2017–18.

baroness williams of trafford: The total cost of Operation Grange since 2011, up until end of January 2017, is £11.05m.   We have already provided the Metropolitan Police Service with the funding required for Operation Grange to continue until at least the end of the 2016/17 financial year. The resources required will be reviewed again at this point.

Refugees: Children

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will continue to implement section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016, relating to unaccompanied refugee children, beyond the end of March into the next financial year.

baroness williams of trafford: Under the Immigration Act we made a commitment to transfer a specified number of unaccompanied refugee children to the UK, following consultation with local authorities on capacity.On 8 February, the Government announced that we will transfer the specified number of 350 children to the UK under section 67 of the Immigration Act. This includes the more than 200 children already transferred from France as part of the UK’s support for the Calais camp clearance.We will announce in due course the basis on which further children will be transferred from Europe to the UK under section 67 of the Immigration Act to the specified number.

HM Treasury

Public Expenditure: Northern Ireland

lord empey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have recovered unspent financial allocations to the Northern Ireland Executive in (1) the current financial year, (2) the financial year 2014–15, and (3) the financial year 2015–16; how much was recovered in each year; what was the purpose for which those sums were originally granted; and what were the dates on which they were granted.

baroness neville-rolfe: The Northern Ireland Executive’s block grant is not hypothecated for spending on specific purposes. In common with the other devolved administrations, it may carry over unspent provision from one year to the next under the Budget Exchange system, described in section 7 of the Treasury’s ‘Statement of Funding Policy’. The current ceilings for Budget Exchange are 0.6% Resource DEL, 1.5% General Capital DEL and 15% Financial Transactions Capital DEL. No funding in these categories was surrendered to the Treasury in 2014-15 or 2015-16 as unspent provision was within these limits. Underspends for 2016-17 will be calculated after the end of the financial year.

Fracking

lord hodgson of astley abbotts: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect to publish the outcome of the consultation on the delivery methods and priorities for the Shale Wealth Fund.

baroness neville-rolfe: The Shale Wealth Fund consultation resulted in 170 responses and closed on 26 October. Following this the government set out at Autumn Statement 2016 that local communities will benefit first and determine how the money is spent in their area. A government response to the consultation will be published shortly.

Cabinet Office

Charities: Grants

lord stoddart of swindon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Young of Cookham on 30 January concerning government and NHS donations to charities (HL4976), whether they will now arrange for each government department and NHS Trust to publish details of donations to charities during the period 2010–15.

lord young of cookham: The cabinet office has no plans to arrange for the collation or publication of these details.

Department of Health

Abortion

lord steel of aikwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the number of women who travelled from (a) the Republic of Ireland, and (b) Northern Ireland, to the rest of the UK to obtain legal abortions in the latest year for which figures are available.

lord o'shaughnessy: Summary information from the abortion notification forms returned to the Chief Medical Officers of England and Wales shows that 3,451 women from the Republic of Ireland and 833 women from Northern Ireland had a legal abortion in England and Wales in 2015. The Department does not collect data on abortions in Scotland.